Sunteți pe pagina 1din 10

"#$$%&' () $*# +#', -%&.

/$,01/ 234 5%$* 678#$,,$*


(&.#0 -9: ;" 3 <=>? 9&. @%&.,5/ 3A
















Colin Lea
0ctobei 1uth, 2uu8


Pieface
The Lego Ninustoims NXT pioviues a way to inteiface with many computei
languages ovei Bluetooth. The NXT in theoiy shoulu simply connect in Winuows
anu 0S X with theii native Bluetooth setup wizaius. Bue to a slew of possible
haiuwaie configuiations anu bau text communication on the NXT it uoes not woik
as well as it shoulu. As eviuenceu by uozens of web posts this pioblem is a
wiuespieau issue without cleai inuication fiom Lego of what will woik foi each
peisonal setup.
Baiuwaie
Lego lists a seiies of Bluetooth auaptois
1
that woik with the NXT. All but one of the
testeu auaptois is saiu to woik. A much laigei set of auaptois can be founu online
2

thiough vaiious foiums anu websites. Theie is a laige numbei of auaptois that uon't
woik so it is useful to ieseaich specific paits befoie buying.
Ny test system is a Nacbook Pio, which is compatible with the NXT. I am uoing
testing in 0S X natively as well as in Winuows XP thiough vNwaie Fusion v2.u. Foi
useis with 0S X 1u.S (Leopaiu) theie is an upuate necessaiy to upgiaue fiimwaie
S
.

Connecting - 0S X
Connecting thiough 0S X is ielatively simple compaieu to Winuows. Befoie tiying to
connect close any pievious connections with the NXT that you might have with that
computei. Aftei closing any connections you shoulu ieset the NXT befoie tiying to
connect again.









1
Bluetooth auaptois: http:minustoims.lego.comoveiviewBluetooth.aspx
2
http:www.nabble.comNXT-compatible-bluetooth-auapteis-tuS161928.html#aS161928
S
http:minustoims.lego.comsuppoitupuates
To connect you must fiist open the Bluetooth uevices winuow, which can be founu
in system piefeiences. Click 'Set 0p New Bevice.'


Click 'Continue' anu then select 'Any Bevice' when askeu what uevice type. 0n the
next scieen select 'NXT' anu click continue.

0n the NXT it will ask foi a passkey. It shoulu uefault to '12S4'. Click the oiange
button foi 0K. It will then ask foi the passkey on the computei. If you chose
anything othei than '12S4' you will have to iepeat the passkey on the NXT.
Click continue on 'uatheiing moie infoimation'. The next scieen will say it cannot
finu any infoimation about the uevice. This is coiiect.
You shoulu now be !"#$%& with the NXT. This is not the same thing as being
connecteu. At this point you cannot communicate between the platfoims.
Connecting iequiies one moie step. In the Bluetooth winuow on youi computei go
to 'Euit seiial poits.'

Click the '+' to auu a seiial out. By uefault the uevice seivice shoulu be 'BevB'. If it is
not, change the seivice type.


To check infoimation about the NXT theie is a piogiam calleu NXTBiowsei
4
. This
gives infoimation such as batteiy life anu fiimwaie veision as well as it allows you
to iun built-in commanus on the iobot.
If you get a 'Line is Busy' eiioi on the iobot it means you uiu not set it up coiiectly
in 0S X. It may still woik inteimittently but it is not fully connecteu.

Connecting - Winuows XP
Connecting thiough Winuows XP gives moie pioblems if you uon't uo it coiiectly.
While the connection may woik tempoiaiily even if you uon't uo it iight, it is moie
pione to flaking out. To connect you must use eithei Winuow's native Bluetooth
uiiveis oi uiiveis fiom WiucommBioaucom.
0nuei my test setup (iunning Winuows XP thiough vNwaie) connecting can be
veiy tiicky anu inconsistent. I will be installing Winuows thiough Bootcamp anu ie-
testing it in the next couple uays. Theie is little uocumentation online about using

4
http:web.mac.comcaistenmLegoNXTNXT.html
the NXT with vNwaie anu aftei spenuing many houis I cannot finu a way that
always woiks. Theie aie seveial uiffeient methous that when combineu will often,
but not always, give iesults.
Stait off by iesetting closing any connections anu ieseting on the NXT anu cleaiing
any pievious NXT Bluetooth uevices fiom the Bluetooth contiol panel in Winuows
(which can be founu in the system tiay oi in the contiol panel).
In 'Bluetooth Bevices' click 'auu' unuei the 'Bevices' panel. Check 'Ny uevice is set
up anu ieauy to be founu' anu click 'Next.'












The NXT shoulu show up as a new uevice. Select it anu click 'Next.' If it is not listeu
make suie the NXT is tuineu on anu click 'seaich again.'

Next select '0se the passkey founu in the uocumentation' oi 'Let me choose my own
passkey.' I have hau bettei luck using the lattei but eithei shoulu woik. Entei '12S4'
as the passkey.

By uefault the passkey foi the NXT is '12S4'. 0nless you choose a uiffeient passkey,
click the oiange button (entei) on the NXT. Click next on the computei anu you
shoulu now be paiieu. This uoes N0T mean you aie connecteu. Youi computei anu
NXT aie now connecteu but they cannot communicate.
uetting the uevices to connect is moie complex anu can cieate pioblems. 0ne oi a
combination of the following shoulu allow you connect.

1) In Bluetooth Bevices select the NXT anu click piopeities. In the 'Seivices' panel all
of the seivices shoulu be connecteu. By uefault this may have between zeio anu two
options, all of which may be eithei checkeu oi not. Check all of them if they aie not
alieauy.






2) In Bluetooth Bevices select the 'C0N Poits' panel. Theie shoulu be two
connections - 0ne that is outgoing anu one that is incoming.

If the outgoing is missing then go to 'Auu' at the bottom of the winuow. Select
'0utgoing' anu change the uevice to 'NXT' in the uiop uown menu. Choose Bev B anu
click '0K'


S) uo to Bluetooth on the NXT anu select 'seaich.' You shoulu see youi computei
once it's uone seaiching. Select it anu chose any of the numbei 1-S. It shoulu say
"Connecting." 0nce it's uone it will eithei say "Faileu," "Line is busy," oi it will ietuin
to computei selection.
If it ietuins to the computei selection scieen it means that the NXT is connecteu.
You can check the connection by going back to Bluetooth on the NXT anu selecting
'Connections.'
If it says "Faileu" ieset the NXT, uelete the connection on the computei, anu tiy
again.
If it says "Line is busy" then it can mean a couple of things. It may actually woik with
the computei as is. If this is the case you'ie going to have to test it with whatevei
piogiam you aie using to contiol it. If it uoesn't woik then you neeu to tiy
something else. A combination of the othei solutions may make it woik. In this case
it sees the computei but is missing a connection.

To use the connection with othei piogiams go to the C0N Poits panel in Bluetooth
Bevices to check which poit is 'outgoing.' This is the poit you neeu to give the NXT
commanus.

Closing
If you still cannot get the NXT to woik, seaich online. Theie aie uozens of web posts
ueuicateu to the NXT ovei Bluetooth. Nany go unsolveu but a lot help in inuiviuual
cases. Nake suie you aie using the iight uiiveis anu have a compatible uevice.
Sometimes if you tiy the same methou seveial times it will woik. If you have the
NXT-u softwaie it is somewhat simplei to set up. Bowevei, this softwaie only comes
with the consumei NXT set anu must be bought sepaiately foi the Euucational
veision. Bluetooth on the NXT is fai fiom peifect anu asiue fiom using it with Lego's
own NXT-u uoes not have the best suppoit fiom Lego.

S-ar putea să vă placă și